About the study

The Port Future Study was a mayoral initiative to provide Aucklanders with an opportunity to have their say on the future of Auckland's port.

To ensure the wider community was involved in decisions about our port's future, the study was established to bring together a wide range of
interested groups and mana whenua members. It was conducted
independently from Auckland Council and was without
political representation.

The study considered the economic, social,
environmental and cultural costs and benefits, as well as
the feasibility of a range of options for the future of the
port.

It provided Auckland Council with recommendations about a
long term strategy for sea-based trade in and out of
Auckland. View the
Port Future Study's recommendations. The council will then make decisions on matters arising
from the Port Future Study with those recommendations in
mind.

Objective of the study

The Port Future Study recommended a long term
strategy for the provision of facilities to accommodate
sea-based imports and exports and the cruise industry
flowing to and from Auckland and its wider region in an
economically, socially, culturally and environmentally
acceptable manner, taking into account competing uses
for city centre waterfront space and the various impacts
of options.

A collaborative approach

A collaborative approach to conducting the study was
chosen. This approach allowed stakeholders and mana
whenua to engage in an independent and transparent process
that resulted in recommendations to the council that
represented a consensus viewpoint.

The Port Future Study had two groups, each consisting of
stakeholders and mana whenua that will be the vehicles for this collaborative
process - a reference group and smaller consensus working group.

Dr Rick Boven was appointed as independent chair for
the reference and the consensus working groups.

Stakeholders and mana whenua met on 9 and 14 July
2015 respectively and selected the consensus working group
members.

Reference group

The larger reference group consisted of stakeholder
organisations from Auckland's wider community with an
interest in the future of the port. Mana whenua iwi Ngāti
Whātua, Marutūahu, Waiohua-Tāmaki Alliance and
Waikato-Tainui were also represented.

The purpose of this group was to:

represent stakeholder organisations on the study and
communicate updates to their representative sectors

receive updates from the CWG (consensus working group)

engage with and provide feedback to the CWG

undertake work requested by CWG.

Consensus working group

There were 16 members of the consensus working group. Twelve
members from stakeholder organisations and four mana
whenua. The members were selected from within the larger
reference group.

The role of the consensus working group was to:

engage with the reference group

finalise and agree the scope of the study that will
direct consultant work

provide direction decisions as required and receive the final study report

make recommendations to Auckland Council about the
future of the port.

The consensus working group appointed an independent
consultant to identify and evaluate options for the long
term future of the port.

Throughout the study, the consensus working group worked with the consultants to understand and guide their
work, so that the consensus working group were well-informed
when they received the consultant's report and developed their
recommendations to the council.

The consensus working group met for the first time on 12
August 2015 and met regularly for the Port Future
Study. The group's last meeting was 22 June 2016.